More Suggestions

I still had not heard back from the pediatrician yesterday regarding Collin's weight gain and lack of sucking while nursing. I did, however, hear back from the lactation consultant. Because I am producing enough milk, she thinks that Collin is not being efficient when nursing because his mouth hurts to suck because of the thrush. She said that we need to clear that up first and then worry about what to do about his sucking if that continues after the thrush clears. Many moms in the hot climate are facing thrush with their babies so she said that it's really common right now. So, to help clear up the thrush, I sanitized and washed anything that Collin or I touched in the last week: sheets, towels, burp cloths, clothes, bottles, pumping supplies, etc. This took half the day but I am sure it will be worth it. Then, she said that I am still extremely sore because we are passing the thrush back and forth. She recommended for me to not continue to wear the breast pads I am wearing but to air dry. Now, I am back to living in a dungeon again because I cannot have the blinds open and air dry. Also, I did notice while pumping, since I am doing this up to 8 times a day now, that my nipples turned purple after I pumped. She said that this is likely because I am swollen from the thrush so the pumping cone is probably too small now. I had to buy a larger one yesterday and this seemed to help some. I still turn purple but only half the nipple now.

Now, I have to wash mine and Collin's hands, wipe off the medicine from my nipples, weigh Collin, nurse him, weigh him again to see how much he ate while nursing, pump, feed him what I pumped, sanitize everything, put medicine on my nipples, wash our hands again and then have about 20 minutes before I do that all over again. I can't say I am bored these days.

He IS gaining weight though so it's all worth it. Last night when I weighed him, he was 8 lbs and 6 ounces on the rented scale.